By WHAT do you (in parallels) structure? (woof-woof!)

Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Sep 19, 2022 at 07:29 PM

There are lots of uses for outlines, of course. One interesting one—and I think it is why apps like Roam are popular—is dialoging with yourself. You can do that with any writing app, but you can see the dialog in an outline, if you use it for that purpose.

Steve

Amontillado wrote:
Any tool is what you make of it. I think of Ulysses as a bad outliner
>the same way I think of Word as a bad spreadsheet.
> >That’s not what either is for.
> >The trap I fall into with traditional outlines, and the reason I avoid
>them like the mixed metaphor, is that it’s too easy to start telling the
>story. If I give away the good parts in an outline, the story will be
>stilted.
> >It’s a personal failing, I’m sure. I’m more creative if I can add fresh
>detail to an outline as I write the story instead of just retell the
>tale. I don’t like writing without a goal. I also don’t like being
>herded.
> >Use what works, toss out what doesn’t. That applies to scenes and
>writing tools.